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Monday, June 18, 2012

In the humorous, heartfelt new novel by the author of The Next Thing on My List, a personal organizer must somehow convince a reclusive artist to give up her hoarding ways and let go of the stuff she’s hung on to for decades.

Lucy Bloom is broke, freshly dumped by her boyfriend, and forced to sell her house to send her nineteen-year-old son to drug rehab. Although she’s lost it all, she’s determined to start over. So when she’s offered a high-paying gig helping clear the clutter from the home of reclusive and eccentric painter Marva Meier Rios, Lucy grabs it. Armed with the organizing expertise she gained while writing her book, Things Are Not People, and fueled by a burning desire to get her life back on track, Lucy rolls up her sleeves to take on the mess that fills every room of Marva’s huge home. Lucy soon learns that the real challenge may be taking on Marva, who seems to love the objects in her home too much to let go of any of them.

While trying to stay on course toward a strict deadline—and with an ex-boyfriend back in the picture, a new romance on the scene, and her son’s rehab not going as planned—Lucy discovers that Marva isn’t just hoarding, she is also hiding a big secret. The two form an unlikely bond, as each learns from the other that there are those things in life we keep, those we need to let go—but it’s not always easy to know the difference.

PRAISE FOR OBJECTS OF MY AFFECTION:

“Reading Jill Smolinski feels like hanging out with a charming, savvy, fun-filled new friend.”

Jill Smolinski is the author of the novels The Next Thing on My List and Flip-Flopped. Her work has appeared in major women’s magazines, as well as in an anthology of short stories, American Girls About Town. She lives in Los Angeles with her son.

MY THOUGHTS/REVIEW:Jill Smolinski’s latest novel, OBJECTS OF MY AFFECTION, is a surprisingly charming tale that deals with the serious issues of hoarding and addiction. Hoarding is recognized as a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder and related to addiction. Both, of course, are most often not seen as a problem to the afflicted so treatment becomes a challenge. Often intervention is needed to help these people. Did I say this was a charming tale? Read on!

Main character, Lucy Bloom, is a personal organizer, and her life has been turned upside down of late. From losing her job to having her boyfriend leave her, things are topped off by the worst part which is dealing with her drug addicted son, Ash. Lucy is forced to set up an intervention to try and help him. In order to get Ash the help he needs in a rehab center, she has to sell everything including her home to pay for it.

Lucy is desperate for a job and so agrees to take on Marva Meir Rios, who is a hoarder, and needs help to clear out her home. Lucy doesn’t realize all that this entails until she gets into it. She also continues to battle to help her son with his addiction. It turns out that Marva and Lucy form an unlikely bond and both are helpful to each other in working on their problems. Marva is pretty sharp and although there is no doubt she is a hoarder, she is also smart enough to recognize the problems that Lucy is having with her son. As they work together, reasons for their problems bubble to the surface and they must deal with them.

Lucy also must deal with some romantic issues in the form of her old beau, Daniel, who walked out because of Ash, and a new interest, Niko. Lucy meets Niko when he helps to take away the things from Marva’s house thus allowing Marva to slowly but surely dig away at her issues. Marva learns why it is she has been hoarding and this helps Lucy to help her.

Jill Smolinski is able to look at these serious issues in a creative and interesting way. The story moves along quickly and readers will easily be able to appreciate the characters that appear sincere and intelligent. OBJECTS OF MY AFFECTION is a perfect summer read that will grab you from the beginning and envelop you in the lives of the unique characters.

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO KAITLYN AND SIMON &

SCHUSTER,I HAVE ONE COPY OF THIS

DELIGHTFUL NOVEL TO GIVE AWAY

--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TOCOUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!HOW TO ENTER:

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I am very happy that this is being offered as a giveaway. I really like that this book has humor. I am also interested in how the personal organizer persuades the Lucy to give up things that have sentimental value.